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((I've always wanted to say that at least once)).
Story: Some of you may be wondering why I've given the story an 8 when I just stated that I love this show. That being said, just because I love a certain drama doesn't exactly mean I'm willing to overlook all of it's faults. The faults here were pretty obvious, but they didn't necessarily detract from the overall experience.
Originally, this drama was to be titled "Undercover" instead of the more poetic "Heartless City". At first, I assumed the previous title was referring to the main character, Soo Min. After you get about halfway through the drama, you begin to wonder WHO is the main undercover. Seriously. Everyone and their grandmother is undercover. It's like the guy pulling all these strings just decided to shove a whole bunch of undercover agents into the drug business and have them chase each other just to get a laugh out of it. The thing is, you'd expect that after the first few times the viewer would get so desensitized to the whole "undercover" thing that when the next character is revealed to be an undercover agent, the viewer wouldn't even bat an eye.
Ha. Nope. Each and every time you're just completely blown away.
"Heartless City" also did a really good job with the antagonist reveal. Just when you think that the "good" guys have defeated the "bad" guys, you realize that there's someone else behind them. I'm putting good and bad in quotations because there's not really an easy way to label all these characters. True, a few of them are easy to label, but everyone's relationships and alliances are constantly shifting here. Mortal enemies may wind up as allies and allies may wind up pointing a gun at you. This drama focuses heavily on those relationships between the people of the drug world and the law enforcement trying to capture them. You would think that relationships also translated to the main romance between Soo Min and Shi Hyun, but it's quite the opposite. Their relationship sort of took a back-burner to the rest of the plot. While that did make the story more believable, it also makes it difficult to put a label on what Soo Min and Shi Hyun felt for each other. I can't say it was love, or even like. Maybe lust or passion? Either way, both characters were very believable and well written. While Soo Min may be overly emotional and unprofessional, she was very realistic. She was an untrained girl looking to get revenge on her older sister, and it shows. Shi Hyun is more than just the cold leader of his drug ring, and little tiny bits of vulnerability show through.
Acting: Wow. Jung Kyung Ho has quickly become one of my favorite actors. His portrayal of "The Doctor's Son" was perfect and apparently garnered him a ton of critical praise. It's well-deserved, since he was just brilliant here. Kyung Ho pulled off the dangerous and vulnerable Jung Shi Hyun perfectly, and I just can't heap enough superlatives on to him to make you understand how much I loved him here. As far as his chemistry with co-star Nam Gyu Ri went, I think I finally have an actor OTP to rival my ChaeKi ship from "Nice Guy". Which sucks, since that means it'll take a while for me to watch their other stuff without hating the onscreen objects of their affections. Anyway, Nam Gyu Ri's character here is a bit... difficult to connect with. I feel like that's more attributed to Gyu Ri's acting than anything else, since it felt like she was emotionally walled off from me, but she was still pretty good in her role. Lee Jae Won and Kim Yoo Mi were really good here, and I especially loved Yoon Hyun Min's Soo here.
Music: God, that OST. It's been a long time since I was so obsessed with a song that I just had to put it on repeat for days on end, and I still don't regret all 300+ plays of Kim Yong Jin's "Hurt". That song was just so perfect for this drama. The instrumentals used to highlight HC's important scenes were perfect too. They felt a bit like something out of a Bond or superhero movie. Dark and broody- perfect for action scenes.
Rewatch Value: Once you've seen the whole thing once, I kind of doubt anything here will take you by surprise. That doesn't mean it won't be fun, though.
Overall: This drama left me emotionally drained and probably ruined me for other noir dramas to come. I wouldn't recommend this if you're looking for something like "City Hunter", since the two are worlds apart in tone despite their similarities plot-wise. "Heartless City" is a drama that's very unapologetic in whatever it does, and by the end of it you'll probably be sobbing, but I would still recommend watching this.
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Story: We all need a nice, zippy rom-com to watch every now and then, and "Cyrano" definitely delivered that for me. It didn't really try to be deep or hold some secret message, but it did offer some insights to love that made me view relationships in a certain way. I'm glad that this drama- for the most part- didn't try to venture into the moral consequences of what the Cyrano team was doing, and instead managed to make it seem less wrong than what the synopsis makes the viewer think. The agency wasn't *making* the target fall in love with the client, but rather helping the client deliver their sincere feelings in such a way that it changes the target's perspective on the client. Some of the cases here were admittedly more "wrong" than others, but in the end everyone wound up content. The tone of "Cyrano" stayed pretty even throughout, except for the last two episodes where it just suddenly decided to be serious. The last two episodes weren't too out there as far as the plot went, but compared to the whole show in general they just seemed kind of ridiculous.
Acting: While I don't have any particular misgivings towards idol actors, the majority of them aren't something to write home about. that being said, I expected Sooyoung to be average or less than in her role and I was partially correct. The writers here managed to make her character likable and cheery, and Sooyoung managed to convey the character well enough but to me she never really *became* the character. Her chemistry with Lee Jong Hyuk was cute, but I always felt that her character was more well-matched to Chunderella's character. Chunderella was brilliant here, and I'll be keeping an eye out for his next role. The other boys in the agency fit their roles surprisingly well, but to me it felt a bit like their previous ones. Jo Yoon Woo's and Hong Jong Hyung's roles were similar to the ones they had in "Flower Boy Ramyun Shop" and "White Christmas".
Music: The music here was different from other dramas, and it was used well to accent certain scenes.
Rewatch Value: While I wouldn't go back and watch the *whole* thing all over again, I would rewatch certain episodes.
Overall: "Cyrano Dating Agency" stuck to its strengths for the most part and managed to deliver a sold rom-com that entertained me. While it isn't wholly forgettable, it isn't something that I will always love and remember.
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This review may contain spoilers
Before any of you die-hard BoF fans rage at me for the ratings, please not that this is my own *personal* opinion, ergo you don't have to read it if you don't like it. II'm not trying to be mean or rude, I'm just saying that everyone has an opinion and you have to accept that.----
"Boys Over Flowers" might have been my first drama ever, but I can't really remember. I do remember that this was the first drama I watched I finished. At the time, I really had no idea what to expect, but seeing how much the friend who introduced it to me loved this drama, I figured it had to be pretty good. So I watched it and wondered how exactly a mess like this got such high ratings.
Story: Speaking from an objective standpoint, BoF is a hot mess. The fans must have been really forgiving to fall in love with characters who drove kids to suicide, and a story that had the main couple breaking up and getting together pretty much every other episode. I like romance and watching the OTP get through conflicts victorious, but I also like having another overlying story arc to keep me interested. In here, was there even something beyond Jan Di's and Jun Pyo's romance? I didn't even ship them.
Acting: Lee Min Ho, despite his mane of shame, is a good actor. I haven't really seen him anywhere else, but he's good here. Kim Bum is outstanding and his chemistry with Kim So Eun was pretty much the only reason I kept watching this. Kim Joon didn't really have that many scenes, but he was good and I'm fairly certain the only reason Kim Hyun Joong is here is because they needed another "flower boy" and were running short. He's really not that great of an actor, but pretty moves mountains. I'm not a hater, since I'm a huge fan of his music, but maybe he can brush up on his acting. Ko Hye Sun, frankly speaking, annoyed me to no end. Not just her character, but her in general. I don't think I'll ever watch a drama with her ever again. She's not a bad actor, but I don't feel like she's particularly good either. Plus, her chemistry with Lee Min Ho felt a bit forced.
Music: I'm still not sure if it was meant to be so funny. "Almost Paradise" killed me no matter what scene it showed up in. The director was really unwieldy in using the music wisely and spacing out the songs, so most of the other music grated on my nerves by episode 15.
Rewatch Value: Ha. No. Never. You would have to pay me to get me to sit through it. This drama may have been other people's favorite, but to me it was tedious and long. The plot spun in circles and the angst shot through the roof and there was still no plot beyond Jan Di and Jun Pyo.
Overall: This drama was so popular for a reason, I guess. Pretty is such a powerful force its nearly sentient. Another reason? If you were sincerely rooting for the main couple and honestly really liked them together, you would watch just for them and for the gratification that came with seeing them together. If you really did not care about the main couple, you would probably throw your computer out a window.
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Story: While this drama isn't addicting, it does have its golden moments that make the whole thing worth watching. Park Shi Hoo's character was involved in pretty much all those golden moments, as I loved Cha Seung Jo to bits and pieces. His was the first KDrama lead who was actually legitimately crazy and not just emotionally stunted. As for the rest of the story, it was really interesting. I expected Han Se Kyung to be the typical "Candy" lead, but she wasn't. She was an angry candy girl, who decides to do whatever it takes to fix her situation in life. To be honest, I never understood the typical "Candy" characters. They supposedly spent their whole lives being independent and trying their hardest, only to completely depend on the male lead when he comes along all rich and prince-like. Cha Seung Jo said something along the lines of "The poor 'candy' loves everything about the hero- except for his money. Does that make sense?". That has pretty much been my problem with characters like that. Se Kyung actually did add money into the equation, and that made her more relatable as a character.
Acting: Park Shi Hoo is a brilliant actor, personal life aside, I want him to be in more dramas simply because he's legitimately good. True, he has a tendency to overact, but with this character it just helped add more flair. I have yet to see him anywhere else, but his works are on my "Plan to Watch" list. Park Shi Hoo's chemistry with Moon Geum Young was intense and sizzling in the first half, but by the second half- due to cheesy writing more than acting, the chemistry toned down to the cutesy, less intense type. Moon Geum Young is supposedly a good actress (never seen her anywhere else), but here her character never felt quite right to me. I felt this huge emotional disconnect and could never bridge that gap. So Yi Hyun was good in this, but not amazing and the same goes for Kim Ji Suk. This may or may not be due to the fact that compared to Park Shi Hoo, everyone else seemed less... good at acting? I'm not really sure how to phrase my thoughts about it.
Music: I actually loved the OST. We had the typical balllads thrown in, but this time we actually got an upbeat, pop-rock song too! And it's not even a music drama! My excitement knows no bounds.
Rewatch Value: For the OTP scenes. Shi Hoo's and Geum Young's characters were really well matched for each other and had a lot of great moments.
Overall: A little slow, but there's plenty of laughs and craziness to keep you watching till the end.
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Story: My main issue with the story was that this drama was marketed as Kang Chi's journey to become human. I wanted to see a drama with that sort of adventure and life-changing journey. I didn't want to watch a drama where the writer became lazy towards the end and wasted a bunch of episodes on useless plot machinations and filler episodes where the villain just twirls his mustache at his evil schemes that serve no purpose to advance the plot. Not to mentions the plotlines that were just shoved aside without a legitimate ending. In the beginning, the story was actually interesting and fun, but the writers bit off more than they could chew here and really had no idea how to give us the story they were marketing and instead gave us the story they could. While I do wish I had gotten what I wanted, I actually won't complain with the story we received because it honestly wasn't that bad- just too stretched out for the 24 episodes. I feel like 16 or 20 episodes would have been enough here.
Acting: Lee Seung Gi was great, as always. Yoo Yeon Sook was good in his role even though his character went nowhere and I'll definitely keep an eye out for Lee Yoo Bi. I'm glad Choi Jin Hyuk is getting the attention he deserves from his role here, and I'll definitely watch "Heirs" for him. He and Lee Yeon Hee had really good chemistry and have since joined my actor OTPs. Sung Joon is one of my favorite actors, so I might be a bit biased in saying this but he felt utterly wasted here. Not that his character was bad, it's just that any other actor could have played Gon. "Gu Family Book" wasn't very good as far as subtle characterization went, so there really wasn't much Sung Joon could put into Gon. However, I will always rewatch this drama for his facial expressions. What I really want to talk about here is Suzy. It's been really gratifying to watch her acting become better since her "Dream High" days, but I feel like she'll never be an amazing actress. Suzy is a really likable person and can be very versatile, but she;ll never break that emotional wall that'll make me believe she's *actually* her character and not just acting her. Dam Yeo-wool was a good character for Suzy to play because they both have that likable feel to them, but at the same time Yeo-wool wasn't as badass as she was on paper simply because Suzy couldn't make me believe in her. Plus, her chemistry with Lee Seung Gi wasn't of the romantic sort, more like your comfortable oppa-dongsaeng sort. I still give props to Suzy for trying, though. You could tell she really was giving her all into this drama.
Music: This OST was just your standard drama OST. Full of angsty sad songs with wonderful voices that I like listening to but I just can't bring myself to put them on my iPod. It was, however, used brilliantly and in all the right places.
Rewatch Value: As stated earlier, I will forever rewatch just for Gon's scenes. And the first two episodes with Choi Jin Hyuk and Lee Yeon Hee. Plus, the cinematography was gorgeous here. I love it when directors know exactly how to milk a scene for the full impact, so I'll be rewatching not for the storyline, but for the beautiful shots and directing.
Overall: Hmm... I might recommend this drama to someone if they seem like they'll like it. But otherwise I'll probably just mention it in passing. I feel like "Gu Family Book" will ultimately just fade from my memory, simply because while it was good, it wasn't GREAT to me.
(Just because it annoys me when people do this, by "Is this review helpful to you?" it means, "did this review provide you with a detailed opinion?" NOT "did this review agree with YOUR opinion?" I'm not trying to be mean or anything, but seriously. Can you guys just put aside your personal opinions on this drama and see if I provided something detailed an well writing and not something like "OMG THIS DRAMA WAS AMAZING!!!111".)
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Story: This story is targeted towards a very specific audience. Unless you've gone through what the characters on screen are experiencing, you're not going to find this drama interesting in the slightest. Speaking honestly, when I watched this drama it bored me to tears., but hindsight is 20/20 and when I went back over it I found it to be a lot more enjoyable. I didn't really like Sung Joon and Jung So Min's scenes simply because the couple they portrayed was annoying. They bickered over the littlest things and Jung So Min's character was so whiny I found myself wondering why anyone would put themselves through that willingly, but when I took a step back and examined the couples around me, they really weren't anything special and were just like any other couple out there. They might not be perfect up close but they'll stick by each other. When I first watched this drama, I liked Han Groo's and Kim Young Kwan's couple better.
I didn't like the controlling parent storyline, but it did serve a purpose throughout the drama, so I'll let it slide.
Acting: Sung Joon is one of my favorite actors, and while Jung So Min isn't, I still liked her in this. Kim Young Kwang was great and had fantastic chemistry with Han Groo- so much that I even wanted them to be real-life couple. Lee Mo Sook was perfect and everyone else was good.
Music: It's been a while since I watched this drama, so I don't really remember how I felt about it.
Rewatch Value: Hmm... just for Han Groo's and Kim Young Kwang's scenes.
Overall: It's not candy-coated and there's no prince charming to sweep away the heroine. The characters are just normal people, trying to figure out what to do with their relationships and their lives.
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Story: To be honest, I don't really mind makjang as long as the writer embraces it whole-heartedly and doesn't try to write off the drama as something else, so I'm glad I got what I expected out of this one. "Hundred Years Inheritance" reminded me a little of "Nice Guy". Both dramas were fun in a soapy way, but there's no way in hell you'd want to *meet* the characters or even interact with them. As long as you don't overthink the story, "Hundred Years" is a fun watch. Full of characters you love to hate and characters you root for despite their personalities. I have to admit, I actually loved the family dynamic in this one. Everyone started out being polite but distant from each other, but gradually came to love and accept this hodgepodge of people as *their* family. That storyline was really gratifying to watch.
Acting: Everyone acted wonderfully. Eugene and Lee Jung Jin were brilliant in their roles, and Choi Won Young was great fun to laugh at. The family members weren't all A-list actors, but they acted well and knew what they were doing. I kind of wish Seo Young Hoon had more screen time so I could actually form an opinion on what I thought of him as an actor, but as of now I'll just keep an eye out for him.
Music: I have to say, it was pretty much like every other OST out there, but a few of the songs were actually pretty good. (I'm not really sure if I actually liked them or if they just grew on me after 50 episodes)
Rewatch Value: Maybe? As of now I'm done with makjang for a while, but later for the OTP scenes.
Overall: From a distance, this drama is a fun watch. It'll leave you laughing, crying and smiling, but at the end of the day the only reason you'll really remember it is because of the craziness.
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Story: Can two politicians from completely different parties find love? If you were to ask me this question a few months ago, I probably would have said something along the lines of "It sounds boring. I don't really care.". I barely pay attention to politics in real life, why should I watch a drama about it? However, after the first few minutes of the drama, I was sold hook, line and sinker. I loved how this drama can go from serious to laugh-out-loud funny in under a second. The politics weren't really the main focus of the drama, but they did play a key role in the conflicts. I'm glad that there wasn't too much emphasis put on the politics in this, but rather the cute and conflicting relationships all throughout. Just as the title shows, "All About My Romance" is seriously *all* about romance. I'm not joking. There is no other plot there, *but* romance (Well, there was a shot at makjang somewhere along the line, but I was willing to ignore it for the sake of both my sanity and my love for the main couple). Anyway, there were about four (?) different pairs of people involved (not necessarily four couples, there's waaaayyyy more pairings than that), but I can only think of two couples that are actually focused on for the whole show.
Acting: Lee Min Jung first dropped onto my radar back when I watched "Boys Over Flowers". She had a bubbly and bright screen presence, and I honestly see her becoming the next A-List actress sometime soon (?). One of my biggest issues with the drama's viewers is that many people dropped it simply because Shin Ha Kyun wasn't "attractive enough". While I do understand the whole eye-candy thing, isn't that a bit shallow? At least stick around a while if your whole issue is purely a visual thing. If those viewers had some issue with the plot, I could understand why they dropped it, but looks? Really? *sighs*
I'll admit, Shin Ha Kyun is not as attractive as he was back when he debuted, but his character's personality sort of made you immune to that, and over time you found him to be kind-of-sort-of attractive.
Y'know. In that ajusshi way. Sort of like one of those older models in those business magazines?
Moving on. Shin Ha Kyun acted really well in AAMR, and without his skills the whole thing would have probably collapsed. No offense to Lee Min Jung, but she just wasn't passionate enough for the drama to rest on her shoulders, and the second lead and minor actors weren't given enough screen time to help her out.
Music: Cute and adorable. The OST will forever bring a stupid grin to my face. I especially loved Akdong Musician's contribution to it.
Rewatch Value: For the funnier scenes, definitely.
Overall: Cute and light. AAMR tries to teach you something about love and tries to be more serious in the process, but it kind of flops in that department. I'm glad that this drama knew where its strengths were and stuck to them for the most part, though. 8/10
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Story: "Nine" is another time-travelling drama, but just like "Queen In Hyun's Man" the rules of time travel were clearly defined from the get go. There wasn't a morally selective wormhole (Faith) or a weird tumor thing (Dr. Jin). The plot was really complex and the writers kept you guessing until the very end. Just like "In Hyun", this drama also went with the idea that some higher power punished you for trying to play god and change the past, and how trying to change them can just hurt you more. I liked how that had less to do with fate coming in and more to do with karma.
The plot itself sounded a bit like a mash-up when I first read it. So we have a time-travelling hero, with terminal brain cancer. And a birth secret. And a murder. And this hero lost everyone due to some past tragedy. That all sounds *really* unoriginal. We already went through the whole time-travel thing last year, and cancer is the illness that everyone has, and don't even get me started on the last two. But somehow, the writers used all of that in a way I really didn't expect. (On a side note, "Nine" felt like a darker, more dramatic version of "In Hyun". That's not to say is was serious all the time, but it was just *more* serious).
Acting: Lee Jin Wook was perfectly casted. I don't think I could ever imagine anyone else playing Park Sun Woo. He really bought the character to life with his emotional depth and dry humor. I loved his character and the easy chemistry he pulled off with all his cast members- whether it was the familial relationship with Jun Noh Min or the romantic chemistry with Jo Yoon He. Jo Yoon He has gotten much better since she was in "Lie to Me" and she was really good at the emotional scenes in "Nine". While she and Lee Jin Wook didn't have steamy chemistry, they had an effortless one instead- sort of like two people who have been together forever. Hyungsik is a surprisingly good actor for his age, and some of his scenes made me *cry*. I'm going to give an honorable mention to Lee Seung Jun because his character was mainly used for comic relief and he wasn't afraid to seem ridiculous on camera.
Music: None of it struck me as original. It sounded like every other OST out there, but it was really well used. The music really helped establish the mood in pivotal scenes in this drama.
Rewatch Value: This drama pulled me from one emotion to the next. Each episode left me a blubbering mess, but that was mostly because I had no idea what was going to happen next. That's why the rewatch value is sort of low.
Overall: This is one of my favorites. It could have had a better ending, but overall I loved it to pieces.
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Story: There's more to it than expected. Woon Cheol honestly wasn't a bad guy, but he was just so socially awkward that it was difficult for him to connect with any of his blind dates. I liked how the production team portrayed his personality so realistically and in such a relatable way. The first half was great as far as characterization went, because you actually got to see him on a blind date with Yoo Jin, and how he might be a nice guy from afar, up close he sort of fell to pieces.
Acting: I really liked Park Soo Jin in this, and that probably has a lot to do with the fact that this is the only role I've seen her in that doesn't actively make you want to hate her character. I've wanted her to break out of familiar second-lead mean girl territory for some time now, and while this was still familiar territory, her character was also subtly different from the roles she's played before. Park Shin-Hye's character seemed a lot like her others, so she acted well, but not in a way that surprised me. Meanwhile, I've never seen any of Yoon Kye Sang's dramas/movies, but I'll definitely be keeping an eye out for him. He pulled of his socially awkward and dorky character very well.
Music: I don't remember much about the music, but I remember that it was good.
Rewatch Value: Not right away, but maybe after a few months if I have nothing to do.
Overall: I know that this is sort of tacked on to the end, but this special was actually much deeper than I expected. I thought it would be light and cute, but there was a lot of relatable and familiar concepts used that made you believe that this story was actually happening right in front of your eyes. "Rock Papper Scissors of Love" was funny and cute when it wanted to be, but pulled at your heartstrings at other times.
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Story: I have a bit of a love-hate relationship with this drama. When it's good, I wanted to clap and jump around with joy, when it's bad, well... I kind of wanted to throw my tablet out of the nearest window. The story goes from interesting and funny to frustrating and sloooowwww. And when I say slow, I mean *slow*. The story gets repetitive in the last quarter and we're stuck with the same mama-drama that any other makjang drama can offer. If I wanted to watch nearly four hours of the rich upper class mom looking down up the dirt-poor main lead girl with a heart of gold, I would have watched "Boys Over Flowers". Yes, we realize your son deserves the best or whatever, but don't you have any other reasons? Actually, there was a reason that actually made sense, but that was said in episode 20, and by that time I just wanted this drama to be over.
Another issue I had with the story were the characters. I understand that dramas have to be funny and they will all inevitably have scenes where the characters act like kids, but here is was a bit excessive. They started out normal enough, but the characters slowly became more and more childish. In the beginning, I loved them all. Joo Won a pretty awesome character, because just when you start to think he's your typical drama chaebol, the writer completely turns that around and makes him awesome. Not to mention how diverse the main characters were. You have a stuntwoman, a chaebol, a singer and a sort-of director all together. Their interactions were interesting, because they sometimes had to work together with their jobs.
On a side note, I liked how well the body-swap was used. In the beginning, Ra-im and Joo-won had a push and pull relationship. They would argue, get back together, argue and go forth in that continuous cycle. The body-swap sort of helped them understand each other and was essential for their relationship to work.
Acting: Hyun Bin was awesome. He pulled everything off perfectly, and I can't imagine any other actor in his place. Ha Ji-won has been in one of my favorite dramas (King2Hearts), so I already knew what her acting was like. To be honest, I never had much love for her, and I still don't, but you can't deny she's good at what she does.
Music: Meh. Nothing special in my opinion.
Rewatch Value: Maybe for the funnier scenes. I'm not particularly interested.
Overall: Equal parts frustrating and entertaining, "Secret Garden" is one of those must-watch dramas that you grow to be annoyed with after it keeps popping up, but it was fun when it was new.
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Story: The story deals with more than the synopsis lets on. It's not just about love and the problems the man characters face in their love lives, it's about family and healing old scars. True, the plot it a bit slow at times, but each episode teaches the main character, Qi Yue, a little bit about love. The pacing in this drama was fabulous, because the writers let the relationship develop just like a real one and covered each and every facet of Qi Yue and Jiang Meng's relationship. We saw them go through rough spots together and come out victorious.
Acting: There's a reason Rainie Yang and Mike He are A-list actors right now. They were really good in this drama. Mike He had an awesome smirk and Rainie Yang was really good at playing the more comedic scenes. Not to mention the fact that they had sizzling chemistry. Kingone Wang was pretty good too, but he wasn't as great as he could have been (on a side note, it was impressive watching his acting improve in his later dramas.) Qi Yue's mom was a really good actress too and was great as far as comic relief went.
Music: I absolutely adored the theme song in this drama. All the other music was great too, though. The OST here is one of the better ones in dramaland.
Rewatch Value: For me, yes. It was the first drama I actually *liked*, and that's a pretty big achievement.
Overall: Of course, this is hardly perfect. It's a bit slow, and more than a little frustrating, but it's realistic and told with a lot of heart.
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Story: There was a really interesting set-up here. 2012 was the year of time-travelers. There was "Rooftop Prince" with its Joseon Idiot F4, "Queen In Hyun's Man" with its sweeping romance and sizzling chemistry, and of course the mess that was "Dr. Jin". Each time travelling drama had a special idea that made it different from the rest of the time travelers, and "Faith" probably had the most interesting of them all. In all the other dramas, the time-travelers were normally men, but this time it was a woman who went back into the past. At first, that doesn't seem like it would make much of a difference, but that little piece of the story made a world of difference. Eun Soo was surrounded by princes and Lords who wanted to possess "The Great Doctor". Before all the feminists on this site get angry, let me just point out that this makes sense. You can't force a guy to marry you or stay in your palace- well, you could- I'm not even going to go there.
I also loved how all the characters had really interesting roles in the story. The main character was a doctor who came from "heaven's realm", the male lead was a general with the power to control lightning- etc, etc. Even when the story was draggy, there were a few interesting developments with the characters.
Acting: Kim Hee Sun and Lee Min Ho have an age difference of about 11 years. Initially, I was prepared to be a little creeped out, but I was surprised when the stylists and the make-up artists made it work. They had a cute, breezy chemistry. Nothing sizzling, but the drama is called "Faith" for a reason. It was more about finding faith in yourself and having faith in others, not about steamy kisses or whatever. (If that did happen, I would probably be a little scarred. Age gap aside, Kim Hee Sun is married. And has a kid.)
Lee Min Ho is one of those actors whose hype I don't really understand. Granted, I haven't seen that much of him- I only ever watched "Boys Over Flowers" and didn't like it much, but he didn't really stick out to me. "Faith" made me see his skills differently. He has his weaknesses, but he did a good job here. Kim Hee Sun was awesome, playing Eun-Soo's sarcastic and free-spirited character like she was born to do it. The supporting cast was good too, and I particularly loved the bromance between all the Woodalchi boys.
Rewatch Value: Not for a while.
Overall: After the writers pretty much exhausted all the fun of the story, they drag it. There were absolutely no surprises after episode 12. This drama probabaly would have been a lot better if it were cut down to 16-20 episodes and if the last half of the last episode was made into two episodes by itself. The ending felt really rushed to me. All in all, "Faith" didn't live up to its potential. There was so much the writers could have done with this story, but it all went downhill.
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Story: When you think about it, this movie borrows ideas from a lot of classics. You have a little bit of "Tarzan", some "Little Mermaid"- pretty much any fish-out-of-water movie out there. So you can very obviously tell the general trajectory of this story. Halfway through, the writers infused the "witch hunt" story line, in which the townspeople are afraid of what they do not know and attempt to kill anything that poses a danger to them (because, y'know, we're all murderers at heart). Let's not mention the fact that we have the typical rich a-hole as the second lead who believes all woman have to do is cook. But I really did love how there were some very golden moments in this movie. It was really interesting watching Suni's and Cheol-Su's relationship grow, as well as watching Cheol-Su's transformation. Of course, the ending killed whatever love I had for the two's relationship, but everything before the three-quarters mark was pure gold.
Acting: Song Joong-Ki. End of story. He's a brilliant actor, and was amazing in his portrayal of Cheol-Su. Park Bo-Young was cute and fit her role well, and she also had cute chemistry with her costar. Of course, it wasn't the sizzling chemistry Song-Joong-Ki and Moon Chae-Won had in "Nice Guy" (To be honest, the only reason I was so hesitant to watch this movie was because I still can;t get over my ChaeKi ship. Even though it'll never happen. Excuse me while I sob in the corner.), but the movie wasn't going for that sort of romance. It was going for the nostalgia and innocence of first love. Also, I really loved Yoo Yeon Sook. He was pretty awesome- even though his character was a jerk.
Music: The music was perfect. It was used well and was really great in highlighting the mood of certain scenes.
Rewatch Value: For me? Definitely not. Even though I loved the first three-quarters, I still won't watch it. The ending just sort of contaminated everything. It's not that the ending was bad, it just didn't *fit* the rest of the story. The writers built up this perfect, amazing relationship only to tear it down at the end.
Overall: Beautifully directed, heartwarming and filled with amazing an amazing cast. When it comes to recommendations, I would probably avoid bringing up "A Werewolf Boy" altogether. I don't want anyone else to suffer the frustration of this movie, but at the same time I don't want to badmouth it either. I loved certain parts of it, but I just can't bring myself to say that I loved *all* of it.
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Story: A lot of people will hate me for this, but the story honestly isn't that new or that interesting. You have your typical "arrogant jerk" meets "sweet female lead" and they fall in love, then you have your typical mama-drama in which the mom opposes the relationship, then you have amnesia, then a time skip, and then the inevitable "we meet again". You can tell where I'm going with all this, right? It all leads up to the "happily ever after", where all the heartbreak is forgotten and everyone is forgiven and the whole world is just rainbows and butterflies and sparkles.
This whole drama sort of gives me conflicted feelings. On one hand, I want to like it. If I were to stop comparing it to other dramas, I probably would like it. If this were the first drama I had ever watched then I would like it- but the thing is that "Autumn's Concerto" is unoriginal and predictable. If I were to rate it based on it's merits, then this would get a 9. Compared to everything else? A 6. There are some fresher moments- I've never seen a drama where there's a kid involved, or a rape case, and while the writers did use those to their advantage, it wasn't really in a new way.
Acting: Bin Xiao Xiao is brilliant and the supporting characters are nice. I had a bit of a problem with Vanness Wu in the beginning. Not because his acting was bad, because he was pretty good, but because he looked way too old to be a college student. His hair and almost-stache made him look like a middle-aged ex-teen pop idol. I felt like the designers were trying too hard to make him look younger and it didn't really work out. As far as Ady An goes, the writers didn't really give her much to work with. Her character wasn't really a "Candy" girl, but she wasn't really anything new either. It felt like she didn't have any real personality of her own.
Music: The music was amazing. I loved almost every song on the OST.
Rewatch Value: I might, but at the same time I don't really want to.
Overall: I think the only reason this is a classic is because Vanness Wu is in here. Other than that I can't really see the reason why. This was a nice story, but it was a little boring and a]had really anti-climatic ending.
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